


Blue Fret

by KZDipped



Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: Especially not the blue one, Fun character development, He's special (TM), NOW WITH AN EPILOGUE!, Negotiations, Nobody touchs Tord's soldiers, Red Army, That don't go very well haha, Torture (referenced), Which is basically just tom and tord being snarky at each other, ah well, but y'know what it's worthwhile, hostage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-01
Updated: 2017-12-07
Packaged: 2018-08-28 12:22:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8445685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KZDipped/pseuds/KZDipped
Summary: A rival gang is holding a prominent Red Army soldier hostage; it's up to Red Leader and his pilots to negotiate the terms of his release.I don't remember where the title came from, pretend it's poetic or something.





	1. Blue Fret

The tension in the old warehouse was apparent as the two parties met. The infamous Red Army, represented by their Red Leader and his two most trusted lieutenants, stood in the middle, across from the gang that has been their rivals for several years: the Lethal Lazulis, represented by their own leader, Derek, and about twenty armed thugs to defend him. The two opposing sides stared each other down for a few awkward moments, before Red Leader finally spoke up. “We have our side of the deal; but I don’t see what we came for.” He flexed his robotic hand, threat left unspoken. 

Derek grinned. “Of course.” He raised an arm, and two men from the back of his group came forward, dragging another man between them. They threw him carelessly into the center of the room, and he skidded to a stop on the harsh surface, unresponsive. His eyepiece was dark, and although there were no obvious wounds and his clothes appeared clean, there was obvious remains of dried blood on his hands. 

Red Leader stared at the body for a moment. “We agreed on intact.” 

“No, we agreed on alive, not necessarily well. Have one of your men check him, he’s breathing.” Red Leader nodded, prompting the man on his right with the name tag reading Paul to move forward. “You have to understand,” Derek continued, “information is valuable, and he has lots of it to be sure. If it makes you feel any better, he didn’t say a word.” 

Paul looked up and nodded solemnly; there was indeed a pulse, and more steady than he had hoped for. However, they still needed to get him back to base and fast. Red Leader returned the nod, then motioned for his other lieutenant, whose name tag read Patryck, to come forward as well. He did, revealing a large metal briefcase, and slid it across the floor, past the hostage and to Derek’s feet. Derek waved one of his own men forward, to pick up the case and check it for traps. It was clean, however, and when opened revealed several hundred thousand in cash. 

Derek smiled, taking out several stacks of paper and passing them around to his men to check for authenticity. “Very nice Red, this will do handsomely. Although…” He snapped his fingers and the door at the back swung open, allowing more of his men in, herding prisoners between them that were obviously Red Army recruits. Most of them looked sullen, but a few still struggled. “We found these outside. I though we agreed you three were to come alone?” 

Red Leader met the gang leader’s gaze coolly. “I didn’t order them to follow, I imagine they felt some kind of loyalty to the hostage and thought they could save him on their own.” 

“Nevertheless, they broke the terms of the deal. However, I’m not an unreasonable man; take your pick.” 

Red Leader blinked. “Pick? What are you asking of me?” 

“Well, pick your favourite I suppose. Two groups, only enough ransom for one I’d say. So unless you have this same amount in your pocket, who would you rather me kill? This, your second-in-command, or a group of-“ he paused to count the recruits “twelve? Thirteen? Yes, thirteen soldiers ready to give up their lives for your cause.” 

Red Leader was quiet, contemplating. Derek glanced at him, grin wide. “I don’t envy your position. Either way you’re going to come off as cruel to your subordinates. Save the potentially more useful, more important person, even though he might not survive anyway? Or exchange his life for these fresh new soldiers, obviously loyal and useful? Decisions, decisions…” 

“I could get you the extra money in two days.” 

He shrugged his shoulders. “Eeh, I could use the cash now. Besides, you can’t be allowed to bargain your way out of everything. It was generous to offer you the deal originally, after you thought it was a good idea to send him to spy on us.” His opponent lapsed back into silence, and after several moments, Derek sighed. “Y’know, if you can’t make up your mind, I will.” He whipped out a gun, pulling back the safety- 

“Wait. I’ve decided.” 

“Finally.” With a roll of his eyes, Derek pointed the gun towards the ceiling, waving it in lazy circles. “So? Who’ll it be?” 

Several things happened just then; Paul, who had been beside the hostage for perhaps a moment too long, pressed a button on a device previously hidden up his sleeve; the doors on both sides of the room burst open and blue clad soldiers ran in; and Red Leader whipped a gun out of his pocket and neatly shot the pistol out of Derek’s hand. The thugs began to take out weapons, but the point of Paul’s device was soon obvious; all of the people holding money from the case were instantly electrocuted, knocked out efficiently, and any remaining were quickly taken care of by the soldiers coming in from all sides. Derek attempted to pull another weapon, but he was tackled by the soldiers who had just moments before been hostages themselves. Meanwhile, Paul and Patryck picked up the original hostage, taking him outside to the waiting vehicles. 

It was all over in a matter of seconds; the gang members were bound and being taken outside, and Derek was pinned to the floor, all weapons confiscated and a small trail of blood running down his mouth. He laughed as Red Leader approached, parting the soldiers before him with the air of a man who’s finally in charge. “So? Gonna kill me now?” 

“We’re going to take you back to our base and you’ll be kept in prison for the rest of your days, most likely.” He motioned to his army, and they pulled the man up, pinning his arms behind his back and dragging him forward to face their leader properly. “You should’ve thought twice before threatening us.” 

“Ah yes, I see my mistake now.” Derek chuckled, sounding as though he hadn’t a care in the world. “You’ve beaten me properly, congratulations. I guess-“ he dragged himself up farther, to eye level, “I guess I should tell you, I lied a little earlier. Your friend over there, he did tell me one thing, although I doubt he realized it. He screamed it once, didn’t put two and two together at the time… But I believe he told me your name, didn’t he Tor-“ 

Without hesitation, Red Leader punched him across the jaw, knocking him out instantly. The soldiers around him shouted their approval, cheering for their leaders, both of them, letting out all the stress and worry of the past week of watching and waiting for their time to strike. They marched out, dragging Derek behind them without a care if someone tripped over or ‘accidentally’ kicked him, because this man had hurt both their favourite people, and he could have killed either of them, but they won, they won, and they were going to have such a party when they got home. 

Meanwhile Tord withdrew quietly to the private car he had had Paul and Patryck get before this entire operation, foreseeing that the situation would have escalated to that point by the time they could negotiate. His worry finally was starting to show, in his quickening footsteps, his short breaths, his nervous tapping with his left hand that his friends had always pointed out but never believed them, because he was strong and didn’t need silly coping mechanisms, not like them. (He did). 

As he approached, Patryck climbed out of the back of the blacked out van, meeting Tord halfway. “He’s stable, for now, but we really need to get him back to the med bay. Paul’s doing what he can from here.” 

Tord nodded, adjusting his pace to match Patryck’s. “What are the damages like?” 

“Concussion for sure, possibly broken ribs, sprained arm, and various cuts and bruises, some worse than others. We can’t actually tell if there’s anything wrong with his eyepiece, we’ll need you to check that out.” 

“Yes, I thought so. I doubt they could have figured out how it works, it probably just needs to be calibrated. He’s still unconscious though?” 

“Yes, he hasn’t stirred yet, which is probably a good thing. Don’t want him injuring himself accidentally.” They were at the van now, Pat climbed into the driver’s seat, and Tord walking around to the passenger side. He would leave Paul alone to work, at this point he’d just get in the way. He glanced back once more at the warehouse and the last of his soldiers leaving it; then got in the car. The leaders drove off, ready to return home.


	2. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've been wanting to write this scene for a long time, a conclusion of sorts :)

The van hurried off down the road, nearing its destination. The four within were, of course, of some importance; but to each other, they were even more so. After having ‘ransomed’ the injured Blue Leader back from the gang, the group was heading back to home base. So it was a surprise to Tord to hear, over the soft rock radio, a sudden crash and shout from the rear of the vehicle.

  
Red clambered into the back of the van, surprised to see Paul forcibly restraining Tom. He was barely pinning the Blue Leader to the floor, struggling to stay above him. “Tom stop, listen-“ Paul was cut off by actually being flipped, losing his grip and tumbling to the side.

  
How Tom managed to stand up was beyond Tord, but he was still of course blind; he stumbled straight into the leader’s chest, immediately trapped by his waiting arms. He let out a pained gasp, trying to thrust back and away; Tord was reminded suddenly of the hostage’s broken ribs. “Wait wait wait, Tom stop!” He certainly didn’t want to release Tom just so he could hurt himself on something else.

  
To his surprise, Tom hesitated. Tord took advantage of his confusion, relaxing his grip and continuing to speak. “You’re in a van with me, Paul and Patryck, we’re heading back to base eta five minutes.”

  
“The Lazulis?” Tom’s voice was hoarse, quiet.

  
“All taken care of, thanks to you. Now if you’ll sit still and stop freaking out, I’ll turn your goggles back on.”

  
Tom considered this, then nodded. He sat back down slowly, now careful of his injuries. Tord took a seat by his side, removing a panel from the side of Tom’s eyepiece and flicking a few switches experimentally. Sure enough, the device only needed a hard reset. It would take a minute, but no permanent damage or necessary repairs.

  
Paul had pulled himself up by now; seeing Red had the situation under control, he nodded at the leader and made his way to the front of the vehicle. Tom shifted slightly at the noise, prompting Tord to murmur, “It’s just Paul. He didn’t mean to freak you out before, we didn’t anticipate you waking up before we returned.”

  
“Oh.” Tom’s breathing was shallow, uneven. “Sorry, I thought they had forgot to tie me up again or something, when he pushed me back down I panicked.”

  
“It’s fine, I’m sure you did no damage. To him anyway.”

  
Tom’s goggles turned back on, reboot finished, and he gazed around the car, look beginning and ending with Red. Satisfied, he leaned back, lying down on the silicon floor.

  
A silence fell between them, broken only by the car’s motor as it drew to a stop. They were likely just entering the compound, nearly home. Tord watched as Tom laid a tired arm over his goggles, blocking out his restored sight once more. “You did amazingly. Thank you for waiting.”

  
“You need to come up with a faster system for hostages,” was Tom’s muffled response. Tord thought he may actually be angry for a moment, until he let out a soft chuckle. “Can I have a raise?”

  
“Only if you don’t spend it on alcohol.”

  
“You can’t control what I do outside work hours.”

  
Tord smirked, getting into the banter. “I can when you live at work.”

  
“Then, I’ll move out.”

  
“Oh yeah? If you don’t mind me asking, where would you go?”

  
Tom hummed softly, tapping a soft beat on his glasses. “Get an apartment, it was pretty sweet before.”

  
“Yeah, when you had neighbours. Or did you forget how you didn’t last a day when they moved out?”

“I was going to join before that, it was just convenient then.” Tom’s tone had become more tired, and the both of them realized perhaps they were stepping into dangerous conversation.

  
A sudden knock on the side of the van, coupled with Paul’s voice: “You lot ready to go inside or what?”

  
Both of them looked up; sure enough, they were parked outside Base Alpha, and neither of them had noticed. “Yes, come in and help me get Tom to med ward.”

  
Tom sat up as the door opened, swinging his arm over his chest instead. “I can walk.”

  
“Mmhmm, you let me know when you’re done playing pretend.” Tord stepped out of the van, pretending to ignore the electronic glare sent his way. 

**Author's Note:**

> Guess who's back :D


End file.
